Umbria · Terni
Montecchio
A small hill commune above the Tiber, sitting on top of one of Umbria's largest Etruscan-tied necropolises.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 80.
The letter
Montecchio got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 12 min from Perugia
- Population
- 1,475
- J10°
- F13°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J29°
- J33°
- A33°
- S26°
- O21°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Montecchio sits on a ridge above the Tiber valley, fifty kilometers south of Perugia and thirty northwest of Terni. The territory was inhabited well before Rome: the Vallone di San Lorenzo, about five kilometers below the borgo, has yielded more than 3,000 rock-cut chamber tombs carved into the soft calcarenite locally called matile, in use from the seventh to the third century BC, with strong ties to Etruscan Orvieto. The recovered artifacts, now in the Antiquarium of Tenaglie, document a wealthy pre-Roman community.
The settlement of Montecchio, a fortified borgo built around the twelfth century, is documented with certainty from 1275 as Castro Monticoli, and after a long spell as a frazione of Baschi it became a comune in its own right in 1948. Tenaglie, on the opposite ridge, is dominated by Palazzo Ancajani, built in the early 1600s on the foundations of an earlier fortification. The territory holds Borghi più belli, Città dell'Olio and Comuni Virtuosi standing together.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 51 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 38 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 12 min or Siena 1 h 54 min.
Coming by train into Perugia? Montecchio is about 1 h 12 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Necropoli del Vallone di San Lorenzo
Pre-Roman necropolis 5 km below the borgo, more than 3,000 chamber tombs carved in matile rock, in use from the 7th to the 3rd century BC.
AMAT Antiquarium di Tenaglie
Archaeological museum in the Tenaglie frazione displaying the necropolis finds, with strong evidence of Etruscan Orvieto influence.
Palazzo Ancajani (Tenaglie)
Early 17th-century palace on a rocky ridge facing Montecchio, built by Marcello Raimondi over an earlier Baschi fortification.
Resti del Castello di Carnano
Ruins of the year-1000 castle above the Tiber valley near the Abbey of Sant'Andrea, destroyed in 1553 by order of Pope Julius III.
Living here
Could you live here?
Montecchio is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,475. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Amelia, is 32 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Terni, a city of 106,310, is 59 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 1,475, down 11.8% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Terni, 59 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Orvieto, 14 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €600 to €1,000 per m² to buy, €3.00 to €5.50 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 14 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Perugia, 1 h 12 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from North Macedonia, Romania and the United Kingdom, against 9% across Italy. 18 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom. There are 485 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 53% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Terni province ranks 48th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Orvieto, 14 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 31 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 32 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Umbria spends about €2,310 a month, €550 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €677 a year for water, on the Umbria average. In Terni, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.22, a meal in a pizzeria €12.97 and a man's haircut €22.65.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
NECROPOLI
More than 3,000 rock-cut tombs at Vallone di San Lorenzo, one of the largest pre-Roman necropolises in Umbria, with Etruscan ties to Orvieto.
OLIO
Olive groves on the Tiber-facing slopes feed mills along the valley; the town is in the Città dell'Olio network.
COMUNI VIRTUOSI
Member of the Italian network of small communes pursuing low-impact, low-consumption local policy.
Common questions
- What is Montecchio known for?
- Montecchio is a small hill commune at 377 meters above the Tiber, sitting on top of one of Umbria's largest Etruscan-tied necropolises.
- Where is Montecchio?
- Montecchio is a comune in the province of Terni, in Umbria.
- What is the nearest airport to Montecchio?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 14 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Montecchio?
- About 1 h 12 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montecchio?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Montecchio?
- Lugnano in Teverina, Bassiano and Monte Castello di Vibio.
- How many people live in Montecchio?
- 1,475 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montecchio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montecchio is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Amelia, is 32 min away. The nearest city, Terni, is 59 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Orvieto, 14 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 377 m
- Population: 1,475
- Surface area: 49.22 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Montecchio appears in
- The 9 best olive oil towns within 90 minutes of TerniNear Terniolive oilwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 334 residents · closest 34 min away
- The 9 best small olive oil towns in UmbriaUmbriaolive oilsmall9 towns · smallest 334 residents
- The best hill towns in the province of TerniTerni provincehill town10 towns · smallest 1,396 residents
Featured on
Montecchio appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 65.
Bomarzo
Province: Viterbo
The Tuscia village below a garden built by a condottiero and later dedicated to his dead wife, all stone monsters and no apology for it.
21 km away
- Written about. No. 73.
Acquasparta
Province: Terni
A hill town at 350 meters above the Naia valley, where a Renaissance duchy briefly became the seat of Europe's first scientific academy.
21 km away
- Written about. No. 75.
Amelia
Province: Terni
A pre-Roman hilltown ringed by polygonal walls, with ten barrel-vaulted Roman cisterns beneath its main square.
32 min by car
The letter
Montecchio got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.